Bill O' Brien fired as HC and GM by Texans

I’m not crazy about kliff but i agree he’s happy to get away from Billy Bozo

 

If he was truly happy, he wouldn’t still be talking about the Texans like a bitter ex girlfriend.

 

Now the inmates are running the prison. They will be turning it into an "adult rehabilitation center ".

 

Well he said all the right things in terms of the search/structure, just a question of whether he follows through.

 

Maybe he's talking about the Texans because his name got mentioned by Cal during that interview and Cal's reasoning for trading him sounded like a big bag of BS? Aside from all of the rumors/reports that Billy did the trade because of personal reasons (e.g. he didn't like Hopkins), a WR wanting to redo his deal is not something completely foreign in the NFL and is probably something you'd expect from an All-Pro that's being underpaid based on his production and what his peers are making. But Billy (and I guess Cal) don't want/need to deal with that side of the business so they jettison him for a broken-down running back and then double down on their incompetence by trading for Cooks and signing Cobb? Hopkins has 39 catches this season out of 46 targets. The trio of Fuller, Cobb and Cooks have been targeted a combined 61 times and have caught a grand total of 41 balls. Cooks can't even catch half of the throws targeted to him.

This franchise was blessed with having two All-Pro WRs in Andre and Deandre that went about their business and produced on the field despite the fact that they didn't have a decent QB for most of their time here. They never ranted or complained to the press about much of anything like a TO or Moss or Antonio Brown. So yea, I completely get why Hopkins would be so salty whenever this franchise brings up his name because he DID have it good here with Watson at QB.

 

Hopkins was still under contract with us through 2022. There was no reason to trade him at the time that we did and for the return that we received. I'm sure Hopkins would've threatened a holdout to get his bump, but he wasn't going to holdout for 2+ years. The whole thing has reeked of Hopkins not fitting OB's personality profile and a guy that gives 110% every practice (which I don't really care about because he showed up and was there for the team on gamedays).

 

I've said this to my friends many times: Hopkins was a low maintenance All-Pro wideout that did could fit into and thrive in any offensive system. The fact that Billy traded him away either tells me that his offensive system sucks or he can't stand to have another alpha male in the locker room or both.

 

I'm glad to hear they are using some other firm to do the GM/coach search. Hopefully Easterby is not deeply involved in that process, as based on what I've read, he is going to be loathe to relinquish the new GM title he has.

 

Don’t forget about the alleged Aaron Hernandez comparison and that DHop brought his girlfriends around or something.

Cal trying to defend the trade is just dumb.

 

David Johnson and Brandin Cooks are each making more than Hopkins this year...

 

The writing was on the wall after a brutal 0-4 start, including Sunday's loss to the then-winless Vikings, but players still didn't expect it to happen so soon, just a quarter of the way through the season. One Texans player says he knew it was coming at some point this season, and he says he and some of his teammates are feeling relieved because O'Brien's team culture didn't allow for guys to play loose and free. He says that has been part of the reason for this season's struggles.

"I am so excited just to go to practice tomorrow just to see how everyone's attitude is," the player said Tuesday, the players' day off. "It feels like there wasn't room for player leadership before, because everyone's voice was so suppressed. No one wanted to put themselves in the spotlight, because it felt like you would be subject to criticism for doing so. Now it feels like the door is open for guys to be themselves more and to have more fun. ... Before, it felt like if you were having too much fun, you weren't doing your job."

Tensions between O'Brien, who was the head coach and general manager, and his players came to a head two weeks ago in two situations, one on each side of the ball.

The Texans player says that during a practice in the week leading up to the Sept. 27 Steelers game, O'Brien kicked the first-team defense off the field during the 7-on-7 jog-through because it was missing a player. This wasn't typical behavior for O'Brien; he'd never kicked the defense off the field like that before. The defensive players were upset to be missing out on reps, and defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver and O'Brien had an argument about it. Star defensive end JJ Watt also argued with O'Brien, as first reported by the Houston Chronicle. O'Brien eventually restarted the practice, and the defense did end up getting in their full reps.

In the other instance, during a meeting with the offense in the Texans' indoor practice facility, two sources say 10th-year veteran receiver Randall Cobb, in his first season in Houston, confronted O'Brien because he wasn't satisfied with the way the receivers were being coached. The Texans and Cobb declined to comment on this. Through his agent, O'Brien declined comment.

These two moments exemplify a coaching issue that grew throughout O'Brien's tenure. The Texans player says assistant coaches seemed like they were often afraid to call out and correct mistakes in practice, because O'Brien expected practices to be perfect. Once, the player says, O'Brien yelled at two assistant coaches for experimenting with a certain play design during practice because he thought they should have figured out the solution before practice.

"We weren't able to even truly focus on correcting mistakes," the player said. "Because it was almost like we're not supposed to make mistakes at practice. Practice is supposed to be where you make mistakes so you won't make them in a game. But it felt like we would get so heavily criticized for mistakes in practice that we didn't get to play as free."

In defense of O'Brien, the player pointed out that he liked a lot of what the head coach created with his disciplined style. He built a strong work ethic in players and taught guys how to handle themselves like true pros. The player says that O'Brien was consistent, and players never doubted how badly he wanted to win. The player says that he and most of his teammates understood the financials of trading receiver DeAndre Hopkins to Arizona, even if they didn't agree with the move.

The Texans player says there was a sense O'Brien did have too much power within the organization, but he doesn't think O'Brien deserves the criticism he has received for his moves as a general manager. After all, under O'Brien's leadership, the Texans won four of the last six AFC South titles.

"He found a lot of talented guys," the player said. "OB the GM was pretty good. OB the head coach: It comes down to the culture. The breakdown came in the culture of the building, with creating an environment where there is opportunity for player leadership."

[...]

Through his agent, a former Texans player said he was surprised that Easterby wound up the survivor in Houston because he had been a close supporter of O'Brien. A source close to the team says several current Texans players have questions about Easterby and how he rose to his current level of power.

Easterby's Texans bio says he "directs the overall culture of the organization," and the Texans player says Easterby has created fun competitions between the team for guys to get to know each other better. Last year, he divided the team into six mini teams of players from different position groups and directed team-building competitions between those teams.

The current Texans player thinks the timing of O'Brien's firing, so early in the season, actually helps the team.

"We still have a lot of football left to play," the player said. "Our team is way more talented. [But in the standings], we are on the same par as the Jets right now. Our team has too much talent on it to be where we are."

https://bleacherreport.com/articles...ulture-was-bill-obriens-downfall-with-houston

 

So Easterby leads Ropes courses...

 

O’Brien couldn’t delegate and allow his coaches to coach.

 

Whoever this player is must be a grade A moron. You COULD make an argument that Billy was an average to slightly above average coach. You, however, have little to no evidence that "OB the GM was pretty good".

 

LOL... "pretty good".

Pretty good was Rick Smith (IMO). BoB was downright abysmal. Player needs to get checked for a concussion.

 

Pancakes mailbag; just got destroyed

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/te...-goodbye-Bill-O-Brien-Cal-McNair-15632938.php

 

Pancakes aren't known to be this salty.

 

Varsity Blues. I don't want your life, Billay.

 

BoB didn't "win" the division. It was handed to him. The division has been terrible. It is like saying whoever wins the NFC East this year is a great coach. The Texans were just better than really bad teams.